Mobile and IoT device forwarding to the cloud

ABSTRACT

A method, implemented in a cloud-based system, includes, responsive to a client device having a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card therein connecting to a mobile network from a mobile network operator, receiving authentication of the client device based on the SIM card; receiving forwarded traffic from the client device; and processing the forwarded traffic according to policy, wherein the policy is determined based on one of a user of the client device and a type of the client device, each being determined based on the SIM card.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to networking and computing.More particularly, the present disclosure relates to systems and methodsfor mobile and Internet of Things (IoT) device forwarding to the cloud.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

There is a staggering growth of user devices in enterprises coupled witha shift in remote work. With this influx, Information Technology (IT)administrators' responsibility extends beyond the perimeter of thetraditional corporate network. Correspondingly, there has been anunprecedented growth in the cloud services that are made available by anenterprise to its employees, contractors, partners, etc., as well asmade available by Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers (andAnything-as-a-Service) to its end customers. In all of these cloudapplications, there is a need to bring traffic from devices to thecloud, including in a manner that avoids backhauling all of the trafficto a corporate data center. The objective is to tunnel such traffic to acloud-based system efficiently.

Conventional approaches include client connector applications fortraffic forwarding, tunneling protocols from routers to the cloud, proxyconfigurations such as via a Proxy Auto-Config (PAC) file, and the like.These approaches work well with traditional computing devices, i.e.,laptops, desktops, tablets, smart phones, etc. However, the number ofdevices being connected to the Internet is exploding including IoTdevices (e.g., smart scooters, etc.), Operational Technology (OT)platforms (e.g., Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)systems, Industrial Control Systems (ICS), etc.), medical equipment(e.g., CAT and MRI scanners, etc.), connected vehicles, and practicallyany device that has a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM). Theconventional approaches do not work well with the aforementioned devicesfor traffic forwarding to the cloud. Specifically, these devices or thecorresponding users of such devices do not exist within a corporatenetwork, are mobile, can connect to any network, may not have useridentification (IDs), may be unknown to the cloud-based system or IT,and/or may not be able to execute a client connector application fortraffic forwarding.

Even assuming it was possible to execute the client connectorapplication, there are thousands of possible platforms (i.e., operatingsystems) and it is simple infeasible to support development for all suchplatforms. Another possibility can include third-party softwareintegration such as via a Software Development Kit (SDK), library, code,etc. that is integrated in the device's code base to enable forwardingto the cloud. However, this approach suffers similar disadvantages asthe client connector application, namely code integration for allproducts, managing patches and versions of possibly thousands ofvariations, and ultimately still requires the third-party to implementthe solution.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for mobile andInternet of Things (IoT) device forwarding to the cloud. In anembodiment, a method, implemented in a cloud-based system, include,responsive to a client device having a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)card therein connecting to a mobile network from a mobile networkoperator, receiving authentication of the client device based on the SIMcard; receiving forwarded traffic from the client device; and processingthe forwarded traffic according to policy, wherein the policy isdetermined based on one of a user of the client device and a type of theclient device, each being determined based on the SIM card. The clientdevice can be an Internet of Things (IoT) device. An identity of theuser can be determined based on an International Mobile EquipmentIdentity (IMEI) of the SIM card. The SIM card can be preprogrammed foraccess to the cloud-based system. The SIM card can be configured toimplement a secure tunnel from the SIM card to the cloud-based system.The SIM card can execute code, such as through the JavaCard platform,for implementation of the secure tunnel. The secure tunnel can utilizeany of Transport Layer Security (TLS), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), andDatagram TLS (DTLS). The forwarded traffic can be forwarded over anApplication-aware Networking (APN) network.

In another embodiment, a cloud-based system includes a plurality ofnodes connected to the Internet, wherein one or more of the plurality ofnodes is configured to, responsive to a client device having aSubscriber Identity Module (SIM) card therein connecting to a mobilenetwork from a mobile network operator, receive authentication of theclient device based on the SIM card; receive forwarded traffic from theclient device; and process the forwarded traffic according to policy,wherein the policy is determined based on one of a user of the clientdevice and a type of the client device, each being determined based onthe SIM card. The client device can be an Internet of Things (IoT)device. An identity of the user can be determined based on anInternational Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of the SIM card. The SIMcard can be preprogrammed for access to the cloud-based system. The SIMcard can be configured to implement a secure tunnel from the SIM card tothe cloud-based system. The SIM card can execute code, such as throughthe JavaCard platform, for implementation of the secure tunnel. Thesecure tunnel can utilize any of Transport Layer Security (TLS), SecureSockets Layer (SSL), and Datagram TLS (DTLS). The forwarded traffic canbe forwarded over an Application-aware Networking (APN) network.

In a further embodiment, a client device includes a network interface,one or more processors, and memory storing instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the one or more processors to utilize a SubscriberIdentity Module (SIM) card to connect to a mobile network from a mobilenetwork operator, request authentication of the client device based onthe SIM card, and send traffic that is forwarded to a cloud-based systemfor processing of the traffic therein, according to policy, wherein thepolicy is determined based on one of a user of the client device and atype of the client device, each being determined based on the SIM card.The client device can be an Internet of Things (IoT) device. The SIMcard can be configured to implement a secure tunnel from the SIM card tothe cloud-based system. The forwarded traffic can be forwarded over anApplication-aware Networking (APN) network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated and described herein withreference to the various drawings, in which like reference numbers areused to denote like system components/method steps, as appropriate, andin which:

FIG. 1 is a network diagram of a cloud-based system offering security asa service.

FIG. 2 is a network diagram of an example implementation of thecloud-based system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a server that may be used in thecloud-based system of FIGS. 1 and 2 or the like.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a user device that may be used with thecloud-based system of FIGS. 1 and 2 or the like.

FIG. 5 is a network diagram of the cloud-based system illustrating anapplication on user devices with users configured to operate through thecloud-based system.

FIG. 6 is a network diagram of a Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)application utilizing the cloud-based system of FIGS. 1 and 2 .

FIG. 7 is a network diagram of the cloud-based system of FIGS. 1 and 2in an application of digital experience monitoring.

FIG. 8 is a network diagram of the cloud-based system of FIGS. 1 and 2with various cloud tunnels, labeled as cloud tunnels, for forwardingtraffic.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are flow diagrams of a cloud tunnel illustrating acontrol channel (FIG. 9 ) and a data channel (FIG. 10 ), with the tunnelillustrated between a client and a server.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating various techniques to forward trafficto the cloud-based system.

FIG. 12 is a diagram of a SIM card-based approach for network path andconnectivity to the cloud-based system.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of an Application-aware Networking (APN) approachwith a mobile network for network path and connectivity to thecloud-based system.

FIG. 14 is a network diagram of an APN network for traffic forwarding ofIoT devices to the cloud-based system, such as for secure access to theInternet, to cloud services, etc.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of communication in the APN network.

FIG. 16 is a network diagram of a network for traffic forwarding of anydevice having a SIM card to the cloud-based system, such as for secureaccess to the Internet, to cloud services.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of communication in the SIM card forwardingapproach.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a process 800 for forwarding traffic to thecloud-based system using a SIM card.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Again, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for mobileand Internet of Things (IoT) device forwarding to the cloud. The presentdisclosure focuses on traffic forwarding techniques that do not requirea user ID, a forwarding gateway, etc. In an embodiment, the presentdisclosure includes use of a SIM card that executes code thereon forimplementing a tunnel to a cloud-based system. In another embodiment, anAPN network is configured for forwarding traffic to the cloud-basedsystem. Advantageously, these approaches are ideal for IoT and similardevices.

§ 1.0 Example Cloud-Based System Architecture

FIG. 1 is a network diagram of a cloud-based system 100 offeringsecurity as a service. Specifically, the cloud-based system 100 canoffer a Secure Internet and Web Gateway as a service to various users102, as well as other cloud services. In this manner, the cloud-basedsystem 100 is located between the users 102 and the Internet as well asany cloud services 106 (or applications) accessed by the users 102. Assuch, the cloud-based system 100 provides inline monitoring inspectingtraffic between the users 102, the Internet 104, and the cloud services106, including Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) traffic. The cloud-basedsystem 100 can offer access control, threat prevention, data protection,etc. The access control can include a cloud-based firewall, cloud-basedintrusion detection, Uniform Resource Locator (URL) filtering, bandwidthcontrol, Domain Name System (DNS) filtering, etc. The threat preventioncan include cloud-based intrusion prevention, protection againstadvanced threats (malware, spam, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), phishing,etc.), cloud-based sandbox, antivirus, DNS security, etc. The dataprotection can include Data Loss Prevention (DLP), cloud applicationsecurity such as via a Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), file typecontrol, etc.

The cloud-based firewall can provide Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) andaccess controls across various ports and protocols as well as beingapplication and user aware. The URL filtering can block, allow, or limitwebsite access based on policy for a user, group of users, or entireorganization, including specific destinations or categories of URLs(e.g., gambling, social media, etc.). The bandwidth control can enforcebandwidth policies and prioritize critical applications such as relativeto recreational traffic. DNS filtering can control and block DNSrequests against known and malicious destinations.

The cloud-based intrusion prevention and advanced threat protection candeliver full threat protection against malicious content such as browserexploits, scripts, identified botnets and malware callbacks, etc. Thecloud-based sandbox can block zero-day exploits (just identified) byanalyzing unknown files for malicious behavior. Advantageously, thecloud-based system 100 is multi-tenant and can service a large volume ofthe users 102. As such, newly discovered threats can be promulgatedthroughout the cloud-based system 100 for all tenants practicallyinstantaneously. The antivirus protection can include antivirus,antispyware, antimalware, etc. protection for the users 102, usingsignatures sourced and constantly updated. The DNS security can identifyand route command-and-control connections to threat detection enginesfor full content inspection.

The DLP can use standard and/or custom dictionaries to continuouslymonitor the users 102, including compressed and/or SSL-encryptedtraffic. Again, being in a cloud implementation, the cloud-based system100 can scale this monitoring with near-zero latency on the users 102.The cloud application security can include CASB functionality todiscover and control user access to known and unknown cloud services106. The file type controls enable true file type control by the user,location, destination, etc. to determine which files are allowed or not.

For illustration purposes, the users 102 of the cloud-based system 100can include a mobile device 110, a headquarters (HQ) 112 which caninclude or connect to a data center (DC) 114, Internet of Things (IoT)devices 116, a branch office/remote location 118, etc., and eachincludes one or more user devices (an example user device 300 isillustrated in FIG. 5 ). The devices 110, 116, and the locations 112,114, 118 are shown for illustrative purposes, and those skilled in theart will recognize there are various access scenarios and other users102 for the cloud-based system 100, all of which are contemplatedherein. The users 102 can be associated with a tenant, which may includean enterprise, a corporation, an organization, etc. That is, a tenant isa group of users who share a common access with specific privileges tothe cloud-based system 100, a cloud service, etc. In an embodiment, theheadquarters 112 can include an enterprise's network with resources inthe data center 114. The mobile device 110 can be a so-called roadwarrior, i.e., users that are off-site, on-the-road, etc. Those skilledin the art will recognize a user 102 has to use a corresponding userdevice 300 for accessing the cloud-based system 100 and the like, andthe description herein may use the user 102 and/or the user device 300interchangeably.

Further, the cloud-based system 100 can be multi-tenant, with eachtenant having its own users 102 and configuration, policy, rules, etc.One advantage of the multi-tenancy and a large volume of users is thezero-day/zero-hour protection in that a new vulnerability can bedetected and then instantly remediated across the entire cloud-basedsystem 100. The same applies to policy, rule, configuration, etc.changes—they are instantly remediated across the entire cloud-basedsystem 100. As well, new features in the cloud-based system 100 can alsobe rolled up simultaneously across the user base, as opposed toselective and time-consuming upgrades on every device at the locations112, 114, 118, and the devices 110, 116.

Logically, the cloud-based system 100 can be viewed as an overlaynetwork between users (at the locations 112, 114, 118, and the devices110, 116) and the Internet 104 and the cloud services 106. Previously,the IT deployment model included enterprise resources and applicationsstored within the data center 114 (i.e., physical devices) behind afirewall (perimeter), accessible by employees, partners, contractors,etc. on-site or remote via Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), etc. Thecloud-based system 100 is replacing the conventional deployment model.The cloud-based system 100 can be used to implement these services inthe cloud without requiring the physical devices and management thereofby enterprise IT administrators. As an ever-present overlay network, thecloud-based system 100 can provide the same functions as the physicaldevices and/or appliances regardless of geography or location of theusers 102, as well as independent of platform, operating system, networkaccess technique, network access provider, etc.

There are various techniques to forward traffic between the users 102 atthe locations 112, 114, 118, and via the devices 110, 116, and thecloud-based system 100. Typically, the locations 112, 114, 118 can usetunneling where all traffic is forward through the cloud-based system100. For example, various tunneling protocols are contemplated, such asGRE, L2TP, IPsec, customized tunneling protocols, etc. The devices 110,116, when not at one of the locations 112, 114, 118 can use a localapplication that forwards traffic, a proxy such as via a ProxyAuto-Config (PAC) file, and the like. An application of the localapplication is the application 350 described in detail herein as aconnector application. A key aspect of the cloud-based system 100 is alltraffic between the users 102 and the Internet 104 or the cloud services106 is via the cloud-based system 100. As such, the cloud-based system100 has visibility to enable various functions, all of which areperformed off the user device in the cloud.

The cloud-based system 100 can also include a management system 120 fortenant access to provide global policy and configuration as well asreal-time analytics. This enables IT administrators to have a unifiedview of user activity, threat intelligence, application usage, etc. Forexample, IT administrators can drill-down to a per-user level tounderstand events and correlate threats, to identify compromiseddevices, to have application visibility, and the like. The cloud-basedsystem 100 can further include connectivity to an Identity Provider(IDP) 122 for authentication of the users 102 and to a SecurityInformation and Event Management (SIEM) system 124 for event logging.The system 124 can provide alert and activity logs on a per-user 102basis.

FIG. 2 is a network diagram of an example implementation of thecloud-based system 100. In an embodiment, the cloud-based system 100includes a plurality of enforcement nodes (EN) 150, labeled asenforcement nodes 150-1, 150-2, 150-N, interconnected to one another andinterconnected to a central authority (CA) 152. Note, the nodes 150 arecalled “enforcement” nodes 150 but they can be simply referred to asnodes 150 in the cloud-based system 100. The nodes 150 and the centralauthority 152, while described as nodes, can include one or moreservers, including physical servers, virtual machines (VM) executed onphysical hardware, etc. An example of a server is illustrated in FIG. 4. The cloud-based system 100 further includes a log router 154 thatconnects to a storage cluster 156 for supporting log maintenance fromthe enforcement nodes 150. The central authority 152 provide centralizedpolicy, real-time threat updates, etc. and coordinates the distributionof this data between the enforcement nodes 150. The enforcement nodes150 provide an onramp to the users 102 and are configured to executepolicy, based on the central authority 152, for each user 102. Theenforcement nodes 150 can be geographically distributed, and the policyfor each user 102 follows that user 102 as he or she connects to thenearest (or other criteria) enforcement node 150. Of note, thecloud-based system is an external system meaning it is separate fromtenant's private networks (enterprise networks) as well as from networksassociated with the devices 110, 116, and locations 112, 118.

The enforcement nodes 150 are full-featured secure internet gatewaysthat provide integrated internet security. They inspect all web trafficbi-directionally for malware and enforce security, compliance, andfirewall policies, as described herein, as well as various additionalfunctionality. In an embodiment, each enforcement node 150 has two mainmodules for inspecting traffic and applying policies: a web module and afirewall module. The enforcement nodes 150 are deployed around the worldand can handle hundreds of thousands of concurrent users with millionsof concurrent sessions. Because of this, regardless of where the users102 are, they can access the Internet 104 from any device, and theenforcement nodes 150 protect the traffic and apply corporate policies.The enforcement nodes 150 can implement various inspection enginestherein, and optionally, send sandboxing to another system. Theenforcement nodes 150 include significant fault tolerance capabilities,such as deployment in active-active mode to ensure availability andredundancy as well as continuous monitoring.

In an embodiment, customer traffic is not passed to any other componentwithin the cloud-based system 100, and the enforcement nodes 150 can beconfigured never to store any data to disk. Packet data is held inmemory for inspection and then, based on policy, is either forwarded ordropped. Log data generated for every transaction is compressed,tokenized, and exported over secure Transport Layer Security (TLS)connections to the log routers 154 that direct the logs to the storagecluster 156, hosted in the appropriate geographical region, for eachorganization. In an embodiment, all data destined for or received fromthe Internet is processed through one of the enforcement nodes 150. Inanother embodiment, specific data specified by each tenant, e.g., onlyemail, only executable files, etc., is processed through one of theenforcement nodes 150.

Each of the enforcement nodes 150 may generate a decision vector D=[d1,d2, . . . , dn] for a content item of one or more parts C=[c1, c2, . . ., cm]. Each decision vector may identify a threat classification, e.g.,clean, spyware, malware, undesirable content, innocuous, spam email,unknown, etc. For example, the output of each element of the decisionvector D may be based on the output of one or more data inspectionengines. In an embodiment, the threat classification may be reduced to asubset of categories, e.g., violating, non-violating, neutral, unknown.Based on the subset classification, the enforcement node 150 may allowthe distribution of the content item, preclude distribution of thecontent item, allow distribution of the content item after a cleaningprocess, or perform threat detection on the content item. In anembodiment, the actions taken by one of the enforcement nodes 150 may bedeterminative on the threat classification of the content item and on asecurity policy of the tenant to which the content item is being sentfrom or from which the content item is being requested by. A contentitem is violating if, for any part C=[c1, c2, . . . , cm] of the contentitem, at any of the enforcement nodes 150, any one of the datainspection engines generates an output that results in a classificationof “violating.”

The central authority 152 hosts all customer (tenant) policy andconfiguration settings. It monitors the cloud and provides a centrallocation for software and database updates and threat intelligence.Given the multi-tenant architecture, the central authority 152 isredundant and backed up in multiple different data centers. Theenforcement nodes 150 establish persistent connections to the centralauthority 152 to download all policy configurations. When a new userconnects to an enforcement node 150, a policy request is sent to thecentral authority 152 through this connection. The central authority 152then calculates the policies that apply to that user 102 and sends thepolicy to the enforcement node 150 as a highly compressed bitmap.

The policy can be tenant-specific and can include access privileges forusers, websites and/or content that is disallowed, restricted domains,DLP dictionaries, etc. Once downloaded, a tenant's policy is cacheduntil a policy change is made in the management system 120. The policycan be tenant-specific and can include access privileges for users,websites and/or content that is disallowed, restricted domains, DLPdictionaries, etc. When this happens, all of the cached policies arepurged, and the enforcement nodes 150 request the new policy when theuser 102 next makes a request. In an embodiment, the enforcement node150 exchange “heartbeats” periodically, so all enforcement nodes 150 areinformed when there is a policy change. Any enforcement node 150 canthen pull the change in policy when it sees a new request.

The cloud-based system 100 can be a private cloud, a public cloud, acombination of a private cloud and a public cloud (hybrid cloud), or thelike. Cloud computing systems and methods abstract away physicalservers, storage, networking, etc., and instead offer these as on-demandand elastic resources. The National Institute of Standards andTechnology (NIST) provides a concise and specific definition whichstates cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demandnetwork access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources(e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orservice provider interaction. Cloud computing differs from the classicclient-server model by providing applications from a server that areexecuted and managed by a client's web browser or the like, with noinstalled client version of an application required. Centralizationgives cloud service providers complete control over the versions of thebrowser-based and other applications provided to clients, which removesthe need for version upgrades or license management on individual clientcomputing devices. The phrase “Software as a Service” (SaaS) issometimes used to describe application programs offered through cloudcomputing. A common shorthand for a provided cloud computing service (oreven an aggregation of all existing cloud services) is “the cloud.” Thecloud-based system 100 is illustrated herein as an example embodiment ofa cloud-based system, and other implementations are also contemplated.

As described herein, the terms cloud services and cloud applications maybe used interchangeably. The cloud service 106 is any service madeavailable to users on-demand via the Internet, as opposed to beingprovided from a company's on-premises servers. A cloud application, orcloud app, is a software program where cloud-based and local componentswork together. The cloud-based system 100 can be utilized to provideexample cloud services, including Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA), ZscalerPrivate Access (ZPA), and Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX), all fromZscaler, Inc. (the assignee and applicant of the present application).Also, there can be multiple different cloud-based systems 100, includingones with different architectures and multiple cloud services. The ZIAservice can provide the access control, threat prevention, and dataprotection described above with reference to the cloud-based system 100.ZPA can include access control, microservice segmentation, etc. The ZDXservice can provide monitoring of user experience, e.g., Quality ofExperience (QoE), Quality of Service (QoS), etc., in a manner that cangain insights based on continuous, inline monitoring. For example, theZIA service can provide a user with Internet Access, and the ZPA servicecan provide a user with access to enterprise resources instead oftraditional Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), namely ZPA provides ZeroTrust Network Access (ZTNA). Those of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize various other types of cloud services 106 are alsocontemplated. Also, other types of cloud architectures are alsocontemplated, with the cloud-based system 100 presented for illustrationpurposes.

§ 2.0 User Device Application for Traffic Forwarding and Monitoring

FIG. 3 is a network diagram of the cloud-based system 100 illustratingan application 350 on user devices 300 with users 102 configured tooperate through the cloud-based system 100. Different types of userdevices 300 are proliferating, including Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) aswell as IT-managed devices. The conventional approach for a user device300 to operate with the cloud-based system 100 as well as for accessingenterprise resources includes complex policies, VPNs, poor userexperience, etc. The application 350 can automatically forward usertraffic with the cloud-based system 100 as well as ensuring thatsecurity and access policies are enforced, regardless of device,location, operating system, or application. The application 350automatically determines if a user 102 is looking to access the openInternet 104, a SaaS app, or an internal app running in public, private,or the datacenter and routes mobile traffic through the cloud-basedsystem 100. The application 350 can support various cloud services,including ZIA, ZPA, ZDX, etc., allowing the best in class security withzero trust access to internal apps. As described herein, the application350 can also be referred to as a connector application.

The application 350 is configured to auto-route traffic for seamlessuser experience. This can be protocol as well as application-specific,and the application 350 can route traffic with a nearest or best fitenforcement node 150. Further, the application 350 can detect trustednetworks, allowed applications, etc. and support secure network access.The application 350 can also support the enrollment of the user device300 prior to accessing applications. The application 350 can uniquelydetect the users 102 based on fingerprinting the user device 300, usingcriteria like device model, platform, operating system, etc. Theapplication 350 can support Mobile Device Management (MDM) functions,allowing IT personnel to deploy and manage the user devices 300seamlessly. This can also include the automatic installation of clientand SSL certificates during enrollment. Finally, the application 350provides visibility into device and app usage of the user 102 of theuser device 300.

The application 350 supports a secure, lightweight tunnel between theuser device 300 and the cloud-based system 100. For example, thelightweight tunnel can be HTTP-based. With the application 350, there isno requirement for PAC files, an IPsec VPN, authentication cookies, oruser 102 setup.

§ 3.0 Example Server Architecture

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a server 200, which may be used in thecloud-based system 100, in other systems, or standalone. For example,the enforcement nodes 150 and the central authority 152 may be formed asone or more of the servers 200. The server 200 may be a digital computerthat, in terms of hardware architecture, generally includes a processor202, input/output (I/O) interfaces 204, a network interface 206, a datastore 208, and memory 210. It should be appreciated by those of ordinaryskill in the art that FIG. 4 depicts the server 200 in an oversimplifiedmanner, and a practical embodiment may include additional components andsuitably configured processing logic to support known or conventionaloperating features that are not described in detail herein. Thecomponents (202, 204, 206, 208, and 210) are communicatively coupled viaa local interface 212. The local interface 212 may be, for example, butnot limited to, one or more buses or other wired or wirelessconnections, as is known in the art. The local interface 212 may haveadditional elements, which are omitted for simplicity, such ascontrollers, buffers (caches), drivers, repeaters, and receivers, amongmany others, to enable communications. Further, the local interface 212may include address, control, and/or data connections to enableappropriate communications among the aforementioned components.

The processor 202 is a hardware device for executing softwareinstructions. The processor 202 may be any custom made or commerciallyavailable processor, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an auxiliaryprocessor among several processors associated with the server 200, asemiconductor-based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip orchipset), or generally any device for executing software instructions.When the server 200 is in operation, the processor 202 is configured toexecute software stored within the memory 210, to communicate data toand from the memory 210, and to generally control operations of theserver 200 pursuant to the software instructions. The I/O interfaces 204may be used to receive user input from and/or for providing systemoutput to one or more devices or components.

The network interface 206 may be used to enable the server 200 tocommunicate on a network, such as the Internet 104. The networkinterface 206 may include, for example, an Ethernet card or adapter or aWireless Local Area Network (WLAN) card or adapter. The networkinterface 206 may include address, control, and/or data connections toenable appropriate communications on the network. A data store 208 maybe used to store data. The data store 208 may include any of volatilememory elements (e.g., random access memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM,SDRAM, and the like)), nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, harddrive, tape, CDROM, and the like), and combinations thereof.

Moreover, the data store 208 may incorporate electronic, magnetic,optical, and/or other types of storage media. In one example, the datastore 208 may be located internal to the server 200, such as, forexample, an internal hard drive connected to the local interface 212 inthe server 200. Additionally, in another embodiment, the data store 208may be located external to the server 200 such as, for example, anexternal hard drive connected to the I/O interfaces 204 (e.g., SCSI orUSB connection). In a further embodiment, the data store 208 may beconnected to the server 200 through a network, such as, for example, anetwork-attached file server.

The memory 210 may include any of volatile memory elements (e.g., randomaccess memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, etc.)), nonvolatilememory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, tape, CDROM, etc.), andcombinations thereof. Moreover, the memory 210 may incorporateelectronic, magnetic, optical, and/or other types of storage media. Notethat the memory 210 may have a distributed architecture, where variouscomponents are situated remotely from one another but can be accessed bythe processor 202. The software in memory 210 may include one or moresoftware programs, each of which includes an ordered listing ofexecutable instructions for implementing logical functions. The softwarein the memory 210 includes a suitable Operating System (O/S) 214 and oneor more programs 216. The operating system 214 essentially controls theexecution of other computer programs, such as the one or more programs216, and provides scheduling, input-output control, file and datamanagement, memory management, and communication control and relatedservices. The one or more programs 216 may be configured to implementthe various processes, algorithms, methods, techniques, etc. describedherein.

§ 4.0 Example User Device Architecture

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a user device 300, which may be used withthe cloud-based system 100 or the like. Specifically, the user device300 can form a device used by one of the users 102, and this may includecommon devices such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, netbooks, personaldigital assistants, MP3 players, cell phones, e-book readers, IoTdevices, servers, desktops, printers, televisions, streaming mediadevices, and the like. The user device 300 can be a digital device that,in terms of hardware architecture, generally includes a processor 302,I/O interfaces 304, a network interface 306, a data store 308, andmemory 310. It should be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in theart that FIG. 5 depicts the user device 300 in an oversimplified manner,and a practical embodiment may include additional components andsuitably configured processing logic to support known or conventionaloperating features that are not described in detail herein. Thecomponents (302, 304, 306, 308, and 302) are communicatively coupled viaa local interface 312. The local interface 312 can be, for example, butnot limited to, one or more buses or other wired or wirelessconnections, as is known in the art. The local interface 312 can haveadditional elements, which are omitted for simplicity, such ascontrollers, buffers (caches), drivers, repeaters, and receivers, amongmany others, to enable communications. Further, the local interface 312may include address, control, and/or data connections to enableappropriate communications among the aforementioned components.

The processor 302 is a hardware device for executing softwareinstructions. The processor 302 can be any custom made or commerciallyavailable processor, a CPU, an auxiliary processor among severalprocessors associated with the user device 300, a semiconductor-basedmicroprocessor (in the form of a microchip or chipset), or generally anydevice for executing software instructions. When the user device 300 isin operation, the processor 302 is configured to execute software storedwithin the memory 310, to communicate data to and from the memory 310,and to generally control operations of the user device 300 pursuant tothe software instructions. In an embodiment, the processor 302 mayinclude a mobile optimized processor such as optimized for powerconsumption and mobile applications. The I/O interfaces 304 can be usedto receive user input from and/or for providing system output. Userinput can be provided via, for example, a keypad, a touch screen, ascroll ball, a scroll bar, buttons, a barcode scanner, and the like.System output can be provided via a display device such as a LiquidCrystal Display (LCD), touch screen, and the like.

The network interface 306 enables wireless communication to an externalaccess device or network. Any number of suitable wireless datacommunication protocols, techniques, or methodologies can be supportedby the network interface 306, including any protocols for wirelesscommunication. The data store 308 may be used to store data. The datastore 308 may include any of volatile memory elements (e.g., randomaccess memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, and the like)),nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, tape, CDROM, and thelike), and combinations thereof. Moreover, the data store 308 mayincorporate electronic, magnetic, optical, and/or other types of storagemedia.

The memory 310 may include any of volatile memory elements (e.g., randomaccess memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, etc.)), nonvolatilememory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, etc.), and combinations thereof.Moreover, the memory 310 may incorporate electronic, magnetic, optical,and/or other types of storage media. Note that the memory 310 may have adistributed architecture, where various components are situated remotelyfrom one another but can be accessed by the processor 302. The softwarein memory 310 can include one or more software programs, each of whichincludes an ordered listing of executable instructions for implementinglogical functions. In the example of FIG. 3 , the software in the memory310 includes a suitable operating system 314 and programs 316. Theoperating system 314 essentially controls the execution of othercomputer programs and provides scheduling, input-output control, fileand data management, memory management, and communication control andrelated services. The programs 316 may include various applications,add-ons, etc. configured to provide end user functionality with the userdevice 300. For example, example programs 316 may include, but notlimited to, a web browser, social networking applications, streamingmedia applications, games, mapping and location applications, electronicmail applications, financial applications, and the like. In a typicalexample, the end-user typically uses one or more of the programs 316along with a network such as the cloud-based system 100.

§ 5.0 Zero Trust Network Access Using the Cloud-Based System

FIG. 6 is a network diagram of a Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)application utilizing the cloud-based system 100. For ZTNA, thecloud-based system 100 can dynamically create a connection through asecure tunnel between an endpoint (e.g., users 102A, 102B) that areremote and an on-premises connector 400 that is either located in cloudfile shares and applications 402 and/or in an enterprise network 410that includes enterprise file shares and applications 404. Theconnection between the cloud-based system 100 and on-premises connector400 is dynamic, on-demand, and orchestrated by the cloud-based system100. A key feature is its security at the edge—there is no need to punchany holes in the existing on-premises firewall. The connector 400 insidethe enterprise (on-premises) “dials out” and connects to the cloud-basedsystem 100 as if too were an endpoint. This on-demand dial-outcapability and tunneling authenticated traffic back to the enterprise isa key differentiator for ZTNA. Also, this functionality can beimplemented in part by the application 350 on the user device 300. Also,the applications 402, 404 can include B2B applications. Note, thedifference between the applications 402, 404 is the applications 402 arehosted in the cloud, whereas the applications 404 are hosted on theenterprise network 410. The B2B service described herein contemplatesuse with either or both of the applications 402, 404.

The paradigm of virtual private access systems and methods is to giveusers network access to get to an application and/or file share, not tothe entire network. If a user is not authorized to get the application,the user should not be able even to see that it exists, much less accessit. The virtual private access systems and methods provide an approachto deliver secure access by decoupling applications 402, 404 from thenetwork, instead of providing access with a connector 400, in front ofthe applications 402, 404, an application on the user device 300, acentral authority 152 to push policy, and the cloud-based system 100 tostitch the applications 402, 404 and the software connectors 400together, on a per-user, per-application basis.

With the virtual private access, users can only see the specificapplications 402, 404 allowed by the central authority 152. Everythingelse is “invisible” or “dark” to them. Because the virtual privateaccess separates the application from the network, the physical locationof the application 402, 404 becomes irrelevant—if applications 402, 404are located in more than one place, the user is automatically directedto the instance that will give them the best performance. The virtualprivate access also dramatically reduces configuration complexity, suchas policies/firewalls in the data centers. Enterprises can, for example,move applications to Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure, and takeadvantage of the elasticity of the cloud, making private, internalapplications behave just like the marketing leading enterpriseapplications. Advantageously, there is no hardware to buy or deploybecause the virtual private access is a service offering to end-usersand enterprises.

§ 6.0 Digital Experience Monitoring

FIG. 7 is a network diagram of the cloud-based system 100 in anapplication of digital experience monitoring. Here, the cloud-basedsystem 100 providing security as a service as well as ZTNA, can also beused to provide real-time, continuous digital experience monitoring, asopposed to conventional approaches (synthetic probes). A key aspect ofthe architecture of the cloud-based system 100 is the inline monitoring.This means data is accessible in real-time for individual users fromend-to-end. As described herein, digital experience monitoring caninclude monitoring, analyzing, and improving the digital userexperience.

The cloud-based system 100 connects users 102 at the locations 110, 112,118 to the applications 402, 404, the Internet 104, the cloud services106, etc. The inline, end-to-end visibility of all users enables digitalexperience monitoring. The cloud-based system 100 can monitor, diagnose,generate alerts, and perform remedial actions with respect to networkendpoints, network components, network links, etc. The network endpointscan include servers, virtual machines, containers, storage systems, oranything with an IP address, including the Internet of Things (IoT),cloud, and wireless endpoints. With these components, these networkendpoints can be monitored directly in combination with a networkperspective. Thus, the cloud-based system 100 provides a uniquearchitecture that can enable digital experience monitoring, networkapplication monitoring, infrastructure component interactions, etc. Ofnote, these various monitoring aspects require no additionalcomponents—the cloud-based system 100 leverages the existinginfrastructure to provide this service.

Again, digital experience monitoring includes the capture of data abouthow end-to-end application availability, latency, and quality appear tothe end user from a network perspective. This is limited to the networktraffic visibility and not within components, such as what applicationperformance monitoring can accomplish. Networked application monitoringprovides the speed and overall quality of networked application deliveryto the user in support of key business activities. Infrastructurecomponent interactions include a focus on infrastructure components asthey interact via the network, as well as the network delivery ofservices or applications. This includes the ability to provide networkpath analytics.

The cloud-based system 100 can enable real-time performance andbehaviors for troubleshooting in the current state of the environment,historical performance and behaviors to understand what occurred or whatis trending over time, predictive behaviors by leveraging analyticstechnologies to distill and create actionable items from the largedataset collected across the various data sources, and the like. Thecloud-based system 100 includes the ability to directly ingest any ofthe following data sources network device-generated health data, networkdevice-generated traffic data, including flow-based data sourcesinclusive of NetFlow and IPFIX, raw network packet analysis to identifyapplication types and performance characteristics, HTTP request metrics,etc. The cloud-based system 100 can operate at 10 gigabits (10G)Ethernet and higher at full line rate and support a rate of 100,000 ormore flows per second or higher.

The applications 402, 404 can include enterprise applications, Office365, Salesforce, Skype, Google apps, internal applications, etc. Theseare critical business applications where user experience is important.The objective here is to collect various data points so that userexperience can be quantified for a particular user, at a particulartime, for purposes of analyzing the experience as well as improving theexperience. In an embodiment, the monitored data can be from differentcategories, including application-related, network-related,device-related (also can be referred to as endpoint-related),protocol-related, etc. Data can be collected at the application 350 orthe cloud edge to quantify user experience for specific applications,i.e., the application-related and device-related data. The cloud-basedsystem 100 can further collect the network-related and theprotocol-related data (e.g., Domain Name System (DNS) response time).

Application-related data Page Load Time Redirect count (#) Page ResponseTime Throughput (bps) Document Object Model (DOM) Total size (bytes)Load Time Total Downloaded bytes Page error count (#) App availability(%) Page element count by category (#)

Network-related data HTTP Request metrics Bandwidth Server response timeJitter Ping packet loss (%) Trace Route Ping round trip DNS lookup tracePacket loss (%) GRE/IPSec tunnel monitoring Latency MTU and bandwidthmeasurements

Device-related data (endpoint-related data) System details Network(config) Central Processing Unit (CPU) Disk Memory (RAM) ProcessesNetwork (interfaces) Applications

Metrics could be combined. For example, device health can be based on acombination of CPU, memory, etc. Network health could be a combinationof Wi-Fi/LAN connection health, latency, etc. Application health couldbe a combination of response time, page loads, etc. The cloud-basedsystem 100 can generate service health as a combination of CPU, memory,and the load time of the service while processing a user's request. Thenetwork health could be based on the number of network path(s), latency,packet loss, etc.

The lightweight connector 400 can also generate similar metrics for theapplications 402, 404. In an embodiment, the metrics can be collectedwhile a user is accessing specific applications that user experience isdesired for monitoring. In another embodiment, the metrics can beenriched by triggering synthetic measurements in the context of aninline transaction by the application 350 or cloud edge. The metrics canbe tagged with metadata (user, time, app, etc.) and sent to a loggingand analytics service for aggregation, analysis, and reporting. Further,network administrators can get UEX reports from the cloud-based system100. Due to the inline nature and the fact the cloud-based system 100 isan overlay (in-between users and services/applications), the cloud-basedsystem 100 enables the ability to capture user experience metric datacontinuously and to log such data historically. As such, a networkadministrator can have a long-term detailed view of the network andassociated user experience.

§ 7.0 Cloud Tunnel

FIG. 8 is a network diagram of the cloud-based system 100 with variouscloud tunnels 500, labeled as cloud tunnels 500A, 500B, 500C, forforwarding traffic. FIGS. 9 and 10 are flow diagrams of a cloud tunnel500 illustrating a control channel (FIG. 9 ) and a data channel (FIG. 10), with the tunnel illustrated between a client 510 and a server 520.The cloud tunnel 500 is a lightweight tunnel that is configured toforward traffic between the client 510 and the server 520. The presentdisclosure focuses on the specific mechanisms used in the cloud tunnel500 between two points, namely the client 510 and the server 520. Thoseskilled in the art will recognize the cloud tunnel 500 can be used withthe cloud-based system 100 as an example use case, and other uses arecontemplated. That is, the client 510 and the server 520 are justendpoint devices that support the exchange of data traffic and controltraffic for the tunnel 500. For description, the server 520 can bereferred to as a local node and the client 510 as a remote node, wherethe tunnel operates between the local and remote nodes.

In an embodiment, the cloud-based system 100 can use the cloud tunnel500 to forward traffic to the enforcement nodes 150, such as from a userdevice 300 with the application 350, from a branch office/remotelocation 118, etc. FIG. 8 illustrates three example use cases for thecloud tunnel 500 with the cloud-based system 100, and other uses arealso contemplated. In a first use case, a cloud tunnel 500A is formedbetween a user device 300, such as with the application 350, and anenforcement node 150-1. For example, when a user 102 associated with theuser device 300 connects to a network, the application 350 can establishthe cloud tunnel 500A to the closest or best enforcement node 150-1 andforward the traffic through the cloud tunnel 500A so that theenforcement node 150-1 can apply the appropriate security and accesspolicies. Here, the cloud tunnel 500A supports a single user 102,associated with the user device 300.

In a second use case, a cloud tunnel 500B is formed between a VirtualNetwork Function (VNF) 502 or some other device at a remote location118A and an enforcement node 150-2. Here, the VNF 502 is used to forwardtraffic from any user 102 at the remote location 118A to the enforcementnode 150-2. In a third use case, a cloud tunnel 110C is formed betweenan on-premises enforcement node, referred to as an Edge Connector (EC)150A, and an enforcement node 150-N. The edge connector 150A can belocated at a branch office 118A or the like. In some embodiments, theedge connector 150A can be an enforcement node 150 in the cloud-basedsystem 100 but located on-premises with a tenant. Here, in the secondand third use cases, the cloud tunnels 500B, 500C support multiple users102.

There can be two versions of the cloud tunnel 500, referred to a tunnel1 and tunnel 2. The tunnel 1 can only support Web protocols as an HTTPconnect tunnel operating on a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)streams. That is, the tunnel 1 can send all proxy-aware traffic or port80/443 traffic to the enforcement node 150, depending on the forwardingprofile configuration. This can be performed via CONNECT requests,similar to a traditional proxy.

The tunnel 2 can support multiple ports and protocols, extending beyondonly web protocols. As described herein, the cloud tunnels 500 are thetunnel 2. In all of the use cases, the cloud tunnel 500 enables eachuser device 300 to redirect traffic destined to all ports and protocolsto a corresponding enforcement node 150. Note, the cloud-based system100 can include load balancing functionality to spread the cloud tunnels500 from a single source IP address. The cloud tunnel 500 supportsdevice logging for all traffic, firewall, etc., such as in the storagecluster 156. The cloud tunnel 500 utilizes encryption, such as via TLSor Datagram TLS (DTLS), to tunnel packets between the two points, namelythe client 510 and the server 520. As described herein, the client 510can be the user device 300, the VNF 502, and/or the edge connector 150A,and the server 520 can be the enforcement node 150. Again, other devicesare contemplated with the cloud tunnel 500.

The cloud tunnel 500 can use a Network Address Translation (NAT) devicethat does not require a different egress IP for each device's 300separate sessions. Again, the cloud tunnel 500 has a tunnelingarchitecture that uses DTLS or TLS to send packets to the cloud-basedsystem 100. Because of this, the cloud tunnel 500 is capable of sendingtraffic from all ports and protocols.

Thus, the cloud tunnel 500 provides complete protection for a singleuser 102, via the application 350, as well as for multiple users atremote locations 118, including multiple security functions such ascloud firewall, cloud IPS, etc. The cloud tunnel 500 includes user-levelgranularity of the traffic, enabling different users 102 on the samecloud tunnel 500 for the enforcement nodes 150 to provide user-basedgranular policy and visibility. In addition to user-level granularity,the cloud tunnel 500 can provide application-level granularity, such asby mapping mobile applications (e.g., Facebook, Gmail, etc.) to traffic,allowing for app-based granular policies.

FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate the two communication channels, namely acontrol channel 530 and a data channel 540, between the client 510 andthe server 520. Together, these two communication channels 530, 540 formthe cloud tunnel 500. In an embodiment, the control channel 530 can bean encrypted TLS connection or SSL connection, and the control channel530 is used for device and/or user authentication and other controlmessages. In an embodiment, the data channel 540 can be an encryptedDTLS or TLS connection, i.e., the data channel can be one or more DTLSor TLS connections for the transmit and receive of user IP packets.There can be multiple data channels 540 associated with the same controlchannel 530. The data channel 540 can be authenticated using a SessionIdentifier (ID) from the control channel 530.

Of note, the control channel 530 always uses TLS because some locations(e.g., the remote location 118A, the branch office 118B, otherenterprises, hotspots, etc.) can block UDP port 443, preventing DTLS.Whereas TLS is widely used and not typically blocked. The data channel540 preferably uses DTLS, if it is available, i.e., not blocked on theclient 510. If it is blocked, the data channel 540 can use TLS instead.For example, DTLS is the primary protocol for the data channel 540 withTLS used as a fallback over TCP port 443 if DTLS is unavailable, namelyif UDP port 443 is blocked at the client 510.

In FIG. 9 , the control channel 530 is illustrated with exchangesbetween the client 510 and the server 520. Again, the control channel530 includes TLS encryption, which is established through a setup orhandshake between the client 510 and the server 520 (step 550-1). Anexample of a handshake is illustrated in FIG. 11 . The client 510 cansend its version of the tunnel 500 to the server 520 (step 550-2) towhich the server 520 can acknowledge (step 550-3). For example, theversion of the tunnel can include a simple version number or otherindication, as well as an indication of whether the client 510 supportsDTLS for the data channel 540. Again, the control channel 530 is fixedwith TLS or SSL, but the data channel 540 can be either DTLS or TLS.

The client 510 can perform device authentication (step 550-4), and theserver 520 can acknowledge the device authentication (step 550-5). Theclient 510 can perform user authentication (step 550-6), and the server520 can acknowledge the user authentication (step 550-7). Note, thedevice authentication includes authenticating the user device 300, suchas via the application 350, the VNF 502, the edge connector 150A, etc.The user authentication includes authenticating the users 102 associatedwith the user devices 300. Note, in an embodiment, the client 510 is thesole device 300, and here the user authentication can be for the user102 associated with the client 510, and the device authentication can befor the user device 300 with the application 350. In another embodiment,the client 510 can have multiple user devices 300 and correspondingusers 102 associated with it. Here, the device authentication can be forthe VNF 502, the edge connector 150A, etc., and the user authenticationcan be for each user device 300 and corresponding user 102, and theclient 510 and the server 520 can have a unique identifier for each userdevice 300, for user-level identification.

The device authentication acknowledgment can include a sessionidentifier (ID) that is used to bind the control channel 530 with one ormore data channels 540. The user authentication can be based on a useridentifier (ID) that is unique to each user 102. The client 510 canperiodically provide keep alive packets (step 550-8), and the server 520can respond with keep alive acknowledgment packets (step 550-9). Theclient 510 and the server 520 can use the keep alive packets or messagesto maintain the control channel 530. Also, the client 510 and the server520 can exchange other relevant data over the control channel 530, suchas metadata, which identifies an application for a user 102, locationinformation for a user device 300, etc.

In FIG. 10 , similar to FIG. 9 , the data channel 540 is illustratedwith exchanges between the client 510 and the server 520. Again, thedata channel 540 includes TLS or DTLS encryption, which is establishedthrough a setup or handshake between the client 510 and the server 520(step 560-1). An example of a handshake is illustrated in FIG. 11 .Note, the determination of whether to use TLS or DTLS is based on thesession ID, which is part of the device authentication acknowledgment,and which is provided over the data channel 540 (steps 560-2, 560-3).Here, the client 510 has told the server 520 its capabilities, and thesession ID reflects what the server 520 has chosen, namely TLS or DTLS,based on the client's 510 capabilities. In an embodiment, the server 520chooses DTLS if the client 510 supports it, i.e., if UDP port 443 is notblocked, otherwise the server 520 chooses TLS. Accordingly, the controlchannel 530 is established before the data channel 540. The data channel540 can be authenticated based on the session ID from the controlchannel 530.

The data channel 540 includes the exchange of data packets between theclient 510 and the server 520 (step 560-4). The data packets include anidentifier such as the session ID and a user ID for the associated user102. Additionally, the data channel 540 can include keep alive packetsbetween the client 510 and the server 520 (steps 560-5, 560-6).

The cloud tunnel 500 can support load balancing functionality betweenthe client 510 and the server 520. The server 520 can be in a cluster,i.e., multiple servers 200. For example, the server 520 can be anenforcement node 150 cluster in the cloud-based system 100. Becausethere can be multiple data channels 540 for a single control channel530, it is possible to have the multiple data channels 540, in a singlecloud tunnel 500, connected to different physical servers 200 in acluster. Thus, the cloud-based system 100 can include load balancingfunctionality to spread the cloud tunnels 500 from a single source IPaddress, i.e., the client 510.

Also, the use of DTLS for the data channels 540 allows the user devices300 to switch networks without potentially impacting the traffic goingthrough the tunnel 500. For example, a large file download couldcontinue uninterrupted when a user device 300 moves from Wi-Fi tomobile, etc. Here, the application 350 can add some proprietary data tothe DTLS client-hello server name extension. That proprietary data helpsa load balancer balance the new DTLS connection to the same server 200in a cluster where the connection prior to network change was beingprocessed. So, a newly established DTLS connection with different IPaddress (due to network change) can be used to tunnel packets of thelarge file download that was started before the network change. Also,some mobile carriers use different IP addresses for TCP/TLS (controlchannel) and UDP/DTLS (data channel) flows. The data in DTLSclient-hello helps the load balancer balance the control and dataconnection to the same server 200 in the cluster.

§ 8.0 Cloud Connectivity

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating various techniques to forward trafficto the cloud-based system 100. These include, for example, use of theapplication 350 as a client connector for forwarding traffic, use of theconnector 400 app, use of the VNF 502 or some other device, use of theedge connector 150A, and use of a SIM card 600. The application 350 canbe referred to as a client connector and it is via a native applicationexecuted on the user device 300 as well as being user ID-based. Theconnector 400 can be referred to as an app connector. The edge connector150A can be referred to as a private service edge.

There is a requirement to get any customer traffic to/from thecloud-based system 100. However, there is a gap on some devices. Thecurrent approach, e.g., with the application 350, the connector 400,etc. there is a reliance on the device, namely installation of aforwarding app, a reliance on an operating system, namely virtualinterfaces, and a reliance on forwarding gateways, namely the edgeconnector 150A. However, these may not be available with other types ofdevices such as IoT devices and the like. As described herein, thepresent disclosure utilizes the term client device to include, withoutlimitations IoT devices (e.g., smart scooters, etc.), OperationalTechnology (OT) platforms (e.g., Supervisory Control and DataAcquisition (SCADA) systems, Industrial Control Systems (ICS), etc.),medical equipment (e.g., CAT and MRI scanners, etc.), connectedvehicles, and practically any device that has a SubscriberIdentification Module (SIM). Those skilled in the art will recognizethat a client device differs from the user device 300 as it may not havethe ability to implement the application 350, not support a user ID foridentifying the user 102, etc.

The present disclosure includes two additional techniques for cloudconnectivity for IoT devices including a SIM card 600 based approach anda cloud/branch/thing connector 604. The SIM card 600 based approach canbe referred to as a device connector. The SIM card 600 based approach isused for forwarding traffic from any SIM-based device (e.g., 2G to 5Gand beyond). The key here is identity is based on the SIM card 600,namely the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), as opposed toa user ID. There is no need for a SDK implemented by the third-partymanufacturers, thereby bypassing development and patching processed. TheSIM card 600 approach provides its own network path and connectivity tothe cloud-based system 100 as illustrated in FIG. 12 ; no gateway isneeded, and it is a plug and play approach.

The SIM card 600 approach leverages the fact that SIM cards 600 can havecompute capabilities and the ability to implement functions includingencryption. A TLS tunnel or the like is established from the SIM card600 to the cloud-based system 100. For example, this can includedevelopment via JavaCard which is a software technology that allowsJava-based applications (applets) to be run securely on smart cards andsimilar small memory footprint device, such as the SIM card 600 whichhas low power and memory. Advantageously, this approach requires noreliance on the device and the forwarding is from the SIM card 600.Thus, this approach can work across various platforms, namely any devicethat uses the SIM card 600. The SIM card 600 approach can also beimplemented with a global Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO)/Roamingagreement.

The cloud/branch/thing connector 604 can use the VNF 502 as well andincludes forwarding of server traffic and is implemented on a hardwaredevice connected to a network. The cloud/branch/thing connector 604 canbe used in an Application-aware Networking (APN) approach with a mobilenetwork 650 as illustrated in FIG. 13 . This approach leverages an APNas a gateway for traffic to forward to the cloud-based system 100. This,similar to the SIM card 600 approach, can be used on any Mobile NetworkOperator (MNO) network.

§ 9.0 APN

FIG. 14 is a network diagram of an APN network 700 for trafficforwarding of IoT devices 702 to the cloud-based system 100, such as forsecure access to the Internet 104, to cloud services 106, etc. Of note,the APN network 700 is illustrated with the client devices 702, but itcould work with any type of user device 300. The client devices 702 areprovisioned to operate on the APN network 700 with the SIM card 600 asthe ID. Traffic is passed from the local radio network to the carriercore, transparent to end client device 702.

The APN 700 is illustrated with three example Mobile Network Operators(MNOs) 704A, 704B, 704C, e.g., AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc. As is knownin the art, MNOs 704 include radios 706 for wireless connectivity andservers 708 for processing. The MNOs 704 provide radio infrastructure,can include roaming agreements, and contract agreements with a MobileVirtual Network Operator (MVNO) 720.

The APN network 700 includes the MVNO 720 which is a wirelesscommunications services provider that does not own the wireless networkinfrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. TheMVNO 720 enters into a business agreement with the MNOs 704 to obtainbulk access to network services at wholesale rates, then sets retailprices independently. The MVNO 720 may use its own customer service,billing support systems, marketing, and sales personnel, or it couldemploy the services of a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE). Thepresent disclosure utilizes the known concept of the MVNO 720 to forwardtraffic to the cloud-based system 100. The MVNO 720 can include servers722 and the cloud/branch/thing connector 604 for connectivity to thecloud-based system 100.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of communication in the APN network 700. FIG.15 includes interactions between the client device 702, the MNO 704, theMVNO 720, a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 730 service, aSecurity Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 732 service, thecloud/branch/thing connector 604, and the cloud-based system 100. Thedevice 702 connects via radio signals to the MNO 704 (step S1) andpresents its configuration in the APN (step S2). The MNO 704 providesthe APN association and forwarding to the MVNO 720 (step S3) and thedevice 702 is associated with the APN (step S4). The device 702's SIMcard 600 is authenticated using the 3GPP 730 services (step S5) whichuses a proxy authentication of the SIM card 600 to the SAML 732 service(step S6) which provides validation (step S7) and submission of a validauthentication token to the cloud connector 604 (step S8).

The SAML service 732 can provide accounting of access/logging/billinginformation to the MVNO 720 (step S9) and enable a path to the MVNO 720(step S10). The device 702 has geo location enabled as well through the3GPP 730 services (step S11) and an IP path is enabled to the MVNO 720(step S12). The device 702 now has access to the cloud edge via the MVNO720 (step S13) and the cloud connector 602 forwards traffic to the cloudand applications (step S14).

Advantageously, the APN network 700 enables cloud connectivity for anySIM card 600 connected device, including the client devices 702, theuser devices 300, etc. All traffic from any device that is enrolled inthe APN network 700 can be forwarded to the cloud-based system 100, withtraffic forward from the MNO 704 to the MVNO 720 to the cloud connector604 to the cloud-based system 100. The APN network 700 also removes theneed for a client such as the application 350 or an SDK, as well asremoving the need for physical network connections or gateways, justride the APN network 700 to the cloud-based system 100. This removes thebarrier to entry—no software to manage at the client level, no patching,etc. Existing providers connect devices through the APN network 700 to afirewall and then on to the Internet. The firewall is used to isolatethe devices on APN—no security layer. In an embodiment, this allows theclient devices 702 to obtain security services from the cloud-basedsystem 100.

§ 10.0 SIM Card

FIG. 16 is a network diagram of a network 800 for traffic forwarding ofany device having a SIM card 600 to the cloud-based system 100, such asfor secure access to the Internet 104, to cloud services 106, etc. Ofnote, this approach can work with any device 300, 702 having a SIM card600. The devices 300, 702 are provisioned to operate on the MNO 700 withthe SIM card 600 as the ID. This approach leverages the fact that SIMcards 600 have the capability to execute code, such as using JavaCard,so that a tunnel is created between the SIM card 600 and the cloud-basedsystem 100.

The SIM card 600 is provisioned in advance with the functionality tosupport the cloud-based system 100. The SIM card 600 can launch TCP/IPfunctionality including a tunnel to the cloud-based system 100, e.g.,the cloud tunnel 500, a TLS tunnel, or any other type of tunnel withencryption. The MNO 704 validates the device 300, 702 and this caninclude SIM exceptions/authentication for known SIM cards 600 supportingthe tunnel to the cloud-based system 100. This can include agreementsbetween the MNO 704 and the cloud-based system 100. Here, thecloud-based system 100 can provide details of allowable SIM cards 600 tothe MNO 704. The cloud-based system 100 can provide an ingress point forthe tunnel from the SIM card 600 and validate the ID based on the SIMcard 600 ID (IMEI). In this approach, the SIM card 600 is the client 510and the enforcement node 150 can be the server 520 in the tunnel 500.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of communication in the SIM card 600forwarding approach. FIG. 17 includes similar components as in FIG. 15except the connector 604 and the MVNO 720. Specifically, FIG. 17includes the device 300, 702, the SIM card 600 in the device 300, 702,the MNO 704, the 3GPP 730, the SAML 732, and the cloud-based system 100.

The SIM card 600 allows the device 300, 702 to connect via radio signalsto the MNO 704 (step T1), the device 300, 702 requests access via theSIM card 600 (step T2), and the SIM card 600 is authenticated throughthe 3GPP 730 (step T3). The 3GPP 730 can perform proxy authentication ofthe SIM card 600 via the SAML 732 (step T4) which can validate (step T5)and provide a valid authentication token to the cloud-based system (stepT6).

The SIM card 600 is configured to establish a TCP/IP connection to theMNO 704 (step T7) and the SIM card 600 launches a tunnel (step T8).Using the 3GPP 730 can provide logging and billing information to theMNO 704 (step T9) so that the cloud-based system 100 can be charged andthe 3GPP 730 can determine the geo location of the device 300, 702 (stepT10). Once complete, the device 300, 702 has access to the cloud-basedsystem 100 based on a tunnel between the SIM card 600 and thecloud-based system 100 (step T11).

Advantageously, the SIM card 600 based approach supports secureforwarding from the SIM card 600, including physical SIM cards, embeddedSIM cards (ESIM) and IP Multimedia Services Identity Module (ISIM). TheSIM card 600 is pre-enrolled and all traffic from such devices 300, 702having these SIM cards 600 is forwarded to the cloud-based system 100.This also removes the need for the application 350 or an SDK, as well asdoes not require physical network connections, i.e., the MVNO 720. Theidentity of the device 300, 702 is based on the SIM card 600. This SIMcard 600 based approach is ideal for IoT devices having a tunnel runningin a small form factor.

§ 11.0 Device Forwarding Process

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a process 800 for forwarding traffic to thecloud-based system using a SIM card. The process 800 includes,responsive to a client device having a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)card therein connecting to a mobile network from a mobile networkoperator, receiving authentication of the client device based on the SIMcard (step 802); receiving forwarded traffic from the client device(step 804); and processing the forwarded traffic according to policy,wherein the policy is determined based on one of a user of the clientdevice and a type of the client device, each being determined based onthe SIM card (step 806).

The client device can be an Internet of Things (IoT) device. An identityof the user can be determined based on an International Mobile EquipmentIdentity (IMEI) of the SIM card. The SIM card can be preprogrammed foraccess to the cloud-based system. The SIM card can be configured toimplement a secure tunnel from the SIM card to the cloud-based system.The SIM card can execute JavaCard code for implementation of the securetunnel. The secure tunnel can utilize any of Transport Layer Security(TLS), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), and Datagram TLS (DTLS). Theforwarded traffic can be forwarded over an Application-aware Networking(APN) network.

CONCLUSION

It will be appreciated that some embodiments described herein mayinclude one or more generic or specialized processors (“one or moreprocessors”) such as microprocessors; Central Processing Units (CPUs);Digital Signal Processors (DSPs): customized processors such as NetworkProcessors (NPs) or Network Processing Units (NPUs), Graphics ProcessingUnits (GPUs), or the like; Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs); andthe like along with unique stored program instructions (including bothsoftware and firmware) for control thereof to implement, in conjunctionwith certain non-processor circuits, some, most, or all of the functionsof the methods and/or systems described herein. Alternatively, some orall functions may be implemented by a state machine that has no storedprogram instructions, or in one or more Application-Specific IntegratedCircuits (ASICs), in which each function or some combinations of certainof the functions are implemented as custom logic or circuitry. Ofcourse, a combination of the aforementioned approaches may be used. Forsome of the embodiments described herein, a corresponding device inhardware and optionally with software, firmware, and a combinationthereof can be referred to as “circuitry configured or adapted to,”“logic configured or adapted to,” etc. perform a set of operations,steps, methods, processes, algorithms, functions, techniques, etc. ondigital and/or analog signals as described herein for the variousembodiments.

Moreover, some embodiments may include a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable code storedthereon for programming a computer, server, appliance, device,processor, circuit, etc. each of which may include a processor toperform functions as described and claimed herein. Examples of suchcomputer-readable storage mediums include, but are not limited to, ahard disk, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, aRead-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), anErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), an Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, and the like. Whenstored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium, software caninclude instructions executable by a processor or device (e.g., any typeof programmable circuitry or logic) that, in response to such execution,cause a processor or the device to perform a set of operations, steps,methods, processes, algorithms, functions, techniques, etc. as describedherein for the various embodiments.

The foregoing sections include headers for various embodiments and thoseskilled in the art will appreciate these various embodiments may be usedin combination with one another as well as individually. Although thepresent disclosure has been illustrated and described herein withreference to preferred embodiments and specific examples thereof, itwill be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art thatother embodiments and examples may perform similar functions and/orachieve like results. All such equivalent embodiments and examples arewithin the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, are contemplatedthereby, and are intended to be covered by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, implemented in a cloud-based system,comprising: responsive to a client device having a Subscriber IdentityModule (SIM) card therein connecting to a mobile network from a mobilenetwork operator, receiving authentication of the client device based onthe SIM card; receiving forwarded traffic from the client device; andprocessing the forwarded traffic according to policy, wherein the policyis determined based on one of a user of the client device and a type ofthe client device, each being determined based on the SIM card, whereinthe SIM card is configured to implement a secure tunnel from the SIMcard to the cloud-based system, wherein the SIM card executes JavaCardcode for implementation of the secure tunnel.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the client device is one of an Internet of Things (IoT) deviceand a mobile device.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein an identity ofthe user is determined based on an International Mobile EquipmentIdentity (IMEI) of the SIM card.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein theSIM card is preprogrammed for access to the cloud-based system.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the secure tunnel utilizes any of TransportLayer Security (TLS), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), and Datagram TLS(DTLS).
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the forwarded traffic isforwarded over an Application-aware Networking (APN) network.
 7. Acloud-based system comprising: a plurality of nodes connected to theInternet, wherein one or more of the plurality of nodes is configured toresponsive to a client device having a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)card therein connecting to a mobile network from a mobile networkoperator, receive authentication of the client device based on the SIMcard, receive forwarded traffic from the client device, and process theforwarded traffic according to policy, wherein the policy is determinedbased on one of a user of the client device and a type of the clientdevice, each being determined based on the SIM card, wherein the SIMcard is configured to implement a secure tunnel from the SIM card to thecloud-based system, wherein the SIM card executes JavaCard code forimplementation of the secure tunnel.
 8. The cloud-based system of claim7, wherein the client device is one of an Internet of Things (IoT)device and a mobile device.
 9. The cloud-based system of claim 7,wherein an identity of the user is determined based on an InternationalMobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of the SIM card.
 10. The cloud-basedsystem of claim 7, wherein the SIM card is preprogrammed for access tothe cloud-based system.
 11. The cloud-based system of claim 7, whereinthe secure tunnel utilizes any of Transport Layer Security (TLS), SecureSockets Layer (SSL), and Datagram TLS (DTLS).
 12. The cloud-based systemof claim 7, wherein the forwarded traffic is forwarded over anApplication-aware Networking (APN) network.
 13. A client devicecomprising: a network interface, one or more processors, and memorystoring instructions that, when executed, cause the one or moreprocessors to utilize a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card to connectto a mobile network from a mobile network operator, requestauthentication of the client device based on the SIM card, and sendtraffic that is forwarded to a cloud-based system for processing of thetraffic therein, according to policy, wherein the policy is determinedbased on one of a user of the client device and a type of the clientdevice, each being determined based on the SIM card, wherein the SIMcard is configured to implement a secure tunnel from the SIM card to thecloud-based system, wherein the SIM card executes JavaCard code forimplementation of the secure tunnel.
 14. The client device of claim 13,wherein the client device is one of an Internet of Things (IoT) deviceand a mobile device.
 15. The client device of claim 13, wherein theforwarded traffic is forwarded over an Application-aware Networking(APN) network.